News and Events for Attorneys and Executives

Environmental

NewsA federal judge in Dallas has ordered the attorneys general of two Northeastern states to come to Texas next month to be deposed in a lawsuit brought by Exxon Mobil, according to a report posted by Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

NewsU.S. District Judge Carl Barbier pointed out that award represents about 4.3 percent of the estimated $13 billion that BP is expected to pay under the ongoing settlements, reports The Times-Picayune.

NewsFrank Holleman never thought he’d become a nationally recognized authority on coal ash, a toxin-riddled waste that has power companies under scrutiny across the country, but five years after taking a job with a regional conservation group, Holleman is perhaps the one person utilities hate to see coming, writes Sammy Fretwell for The State of Columbia, S.C.

NewsEnvironmental lawyer Philip Comella has joined Freeborn & Peters LLP to head the firm’s newly formed Environmental Law & Toxic Torts Practice Group. He previously worked in-house for a major waste-management company and 22 years at a large law firm.

InsightPillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has posted a client advisory reporting on some of the significant U.S. Supreme Court actions from January through June 2016 related to environmental and administrative law.

NewsCorporations seeking to avoid enforcement of foreign judgments they contend are based on corrupt proceedings may have a new weapon now, thanks to a ruling by a federal appeals court over Chevron’s long-running Ecuadorian pollution litigation, reports BloombergBusinessWeek.

News﻿USA Today ﻿is reporting that German automaker Volkswagen Group is expected to deliver a $10 billion settlement to cover government fines and compensate owners of vehicles fitted with software that cheated emissions standards.

NewsThe Associated Press is reporting that Volkswagen and attorneys for vehicle owners affected by the company’s emissions cheating scandal are on target to meet a June deadline for a final settlement proposal, a federal judge said Tuesday.

ArticleFrom two different courts in two different states on two very different claims come the same concept: an agreement to arbitrate may be binding even without a signed contract, according to a report by Stan Martin on the Commonsense Construction Law website.

NewsA coalition of U.S. state attorneys general received guidance from well-known climate scientists and environmental lawyers in March as some of them opened investigations into Exxon Mobil for allegedly misleading the public about climate change risks, documents seen by Reuters showed, Reuters is reporting.